Abstract
Introduction: In back pain, often no correlation between subjective complaints and objective diagnoses can be found. This paper examines both the amount and type of bodily complaints in back pain patients compared with samples of both the general population and psychosomatic patients. Furthermore the relationship between bodily complaints and different facets of chronic pain are investigated.
Methods: Bodily complaints were ascertained using the Giessen Complaints Check List (Giessener Beschwerdebogen, GBB-24) in three samples: patients with chronic back pain (n=691), persons from the general population (n=1979) and psychosomatic-psychothera-peutic patients (n=1642). Additionally, we investigated the relationship between the GBB-24 scales and the severity of chronification (Mainz Pain Staging System MPSS), pain related parameters (pain intensity, pain assessment scale SES), emotional distress (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale HADS-D), parameters of the medical history and muscle strength.
Results: Compared with the general population, patients with back pain reported higher degrees of limb pains (including back pain), and exhaustion. In contrast to the psychosomatic sample, they did not report increased rates of heart and stomach complaints. All complaints were related to severity of chronification, emotional distress and pain-related parameters.
Conclusions: Chronic back pain patients report higher degrees of limb (back) pain and ex-haustion as compared to the general population. Although, in contrast to psychosomatic pa-tients, heart and stomach complaints are not increased in back pain patients, these com-plaints are correlated with parameters of chronicity. Further research should clarify the role of these complaints during the process of chronification.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.